FENDER STRATOCASTER
Dialling in a convincing Brian May tone with a traditionally-specced Strat is tricky; the comparatively low power of alnico pickups and their parallel wiring see to that, so what are your options? Well, experiment with amp and pickup settings to find your own way, and bear in mind that an S-1-equipped Strat gives five additional tonal options
– a distinct advantage over non-s-1 models. In the meantime here are some guidelines to get you in the ballpark.
Position one: bridge
The closest equivalent RS setting is probably the middle pickup out of phase with the bridge, which produces a smart crunch that’s perfectly usable for blues styles. Some Strat bridge pickups can be light on bass so consider raising your amp’s eq control if you desire a fatbottomed tone!
Position two: bridge and middle
Using position two on a Strat gives a similar glassy tone to the RS’S solo’d bridge or middle pickup with the volume dipped a little – great for zinging cleans. The metallic ‘clink’ can be enhanced by the use of a coin as a pick, and adding in a chorus or phaser gives lushness.
Position three: middle
There’s a hollow, almost honky nature to the middle position setting of both types of guitar. However, compare the tone on Queen’s White
Man, recorded using the Red Special’s middle pickup, with the opening chords of Dire Straits’
Sultansofswing that main man Mark Knopfler
used the middle pickup of his 1961 Fender Strat for. They’re quite different in nature and this, in a nutshell, is what Strat players find themselves up against.
Position four: middle and neck
Reversing the phase of the RS’S bridge with the middle and lowering the volume gives a roundly
throaty tone, something that can be explored with this setting. Rounding off the Strat’s tone works well here too; the effect will differ slightly with which exact Strat you have, so play around and see which works best for you.
Position five: neck
Even here a Strat can’t complete with the
warmth of the RS, and the solo’d neck Tri-sonic sounds almost akin to a Gibson SG. Position five with Fender’s S-1 switching system engaged sets the bridge and middle together but out of phase, and combines that with the neck pickup in parallel: lo and behold, a pretty good
Bohemianrhapsody solo tone.